Ghana to host first World Tourism Forum Africa Summit

Ghana has been selected to host the 2017 World Tourism Forum (WTF) Africa Summit.

The event, scheduled to take place from October 10 -11 at the Kempinski Gold Coast Hotel in Accra, will bring together tourism experts and industry players from across the globe.

The World Tourism Forum Africa Summit is an international event that brings together, tourism industry players to shed light on Heritage Tourism, Tourism Investments, Adventure Tourism, Destination Management, and Online Tourism among others.

This is the first time any African country has been chosen to host the event.

Ghana was chosen ahead of South Africa, Kenya, and Morocco due to the peaceful political atmosphere, hospitality and security.

The Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mrs Catherine Afeku who announced this at a press briefing in Accra Tuesday, said the event will afford the country the opportunity to showcase its rich culture to the world.

She said the Ministry has instituted measures to promote Ghana’s tourism sector, noting that the development of the tourism sector would lead to the creation of jobs to help reduce unemployment

Mrs Afeku said over the years, the tourism industry has been one of the key revenue generation sectors of Ghana’s economy.

Participants at the press briefing on the World Tourism Forum

Mrs Afeku said about 10 Tourism Ministers from sister African countries will be attending the event.

She therefore called on the media to market the Ghana’s tourism industry in order to attract more tourists to help boost revenue generation.

‘’This is a chance to put Ghana’s tourism and hospitality on the global map and have the country on the minds of people’’, she said.

Mrs Afeku said the occasion, which will have President Akufo-Addo as one of the speakers will attract over 40 distinguished speakers and patrons from across the globe.

The Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Tourism Authority, Mr Akwasi Agyeman said a number of programmes have been instituted to entertain patrons of the programme.

He added that patrons will be taken to some tourist sites in Ghana, particularly in the Central Region.

Mr Agyeman said the government has initiated a number of programmes aimed at attracting more people into the tourism industry so as to help widen the tax net and create more jobs.

Founded in 2014, the World Tourism Forum has its headquarters in Istanbul and engages with civil society activities under the umbrella of the Young Tourism Leaders Association.